ISFA 2016

Inspired by the class led by Rene Van Rems this past weekend at the Illinois State Florists' Spring Show.  This was originally a hand tied, but I always want to take class projects apart and put them back together once I get home. The compote is very in these days and this one was grandma's.  Rene's work is gorgeous and some of those bouquets were absolutely breathtaking.  Like this one with hyacinth & ruscus, so simple and it smelled like heaven.

  Deborah de la Flor is an ambassador for florists everywhere.  This was my favorite of her bouquets, roses & tree fern. 

 

I made a floral necklace for the banquet Saturday night, inspired by Francois & Susan with some of PJ's beautiful vintage finds.  Wish they had all been at the show with me  too :)

Hitomi Class

Hitomi showed me how to do this!  It was a really good class with such an inspiring woman.  My friend and mentor Amy said the only down side to the class was it didn't last long enough.

 

Our Jeff Powers has made some progress over the last couple of days.  It is very slow going and he is still very sick, but we are so so so thankful.      Please keep praying with us for his recovery. 

Branching Out

My facebook account has been fixed!  Whew!  That was a lesson in just how addicted I am.  Facebook is like the newspaper used to be.  Here are more pictures from the workshop this weekend.  Love these branch sculptures.





 This is Bob Friese, AIFD, our host, telling us about these gorgeous hand-made reindeer.  No 'made in china' labels anywhere :)

This is James Lutcke, the designer who made the birds for the White House Christmas trees.  We got to hear all about his Washington DC adventure.  His work is incredible.

James' red twig dogwood bouquet armature.  I'm going to findr red twig dogwood to plant in the garden this year.

Looking out from Bob's great room.  Awesome twig valence.

Table setting for lunch, which was delicious--homemade soup, bread, & apple pie.

Hope to go back one day to one of their annual Nature's Creative Edge shows.  In the meantime, I'm going to be looking for sticks!

Branching Out, Returning Home

I had a great trip to Michigan over the weekend.  Got to visit with my mom and my sis which was wonderful, then on to a class that's been on my wish-list for quite some time.   I loved every minute, except for the driving around Chicago, which I'll have to tell you about sometime.

Home looked awfully good when I drove in the driveway last night.  And these new pictures were waiting :)  Yay!  They are so beautiful.  I can't wait to see my Betsy-girl and Kyle-boy again.

 

Here's a quick couple of shots from the Branching Out class taught by Bob Friese and James Lutke.  Great teachers and hosts.  It was chilly, but beautiful.  The studio was warmed by a wood stove.  Lunch was home-made soup, bread, & pie. 

It's really good to be home.  My most immediate problem now is not really going back to work, it's that facebook won't let me in.  And while I am willing to try life without a printed newspaper--I don't believe I can live without facebook.  The facebook team has already responded once, so hopefully that will be fixed soon.  Here's to a good Tuesday :)

Wedding Bouquets

If you'd like to see a few of the wedding bouquets from the ISFA show, check out the Petals & Co blog.

Rocking to the Beat Floral Design Trends 2011

Bill Harper put on a great show!  He was so nice in the workroom and his designs were awesome.  Loved the apples, the yarn, the  strings of hypericum. 

 

Natural garden of yellow runuculus, pussy willow, and bear grass. 

Time to go to the produce section of the grocery to get some orange orange orange!



















The pink nerine bouquet was spectacular.














This is  what happens after a show--everybody goes up to get a closer look and take pictures.  There's Des from Petals & Co in the yellow and black dress.   We had such a good time.

J Schwanke at the Friday night Rockin' Weddings show.  He's always entertaining and inspiring.  I love his how-to-arrange-flowers videos, also known as jtv, on ubloom.

Katie Selmi helped J make designs for his show and this is one of my favorites.  Love the photo cube that was available for pictures.  Today is the last day of the conference.  Thank you so much to ISFA for such a great show!

ISFA Tablescape Competition

This was my favorite entry in the tablescape competition, by designer Jane Lindley of True Colors.  So much detail--the tablecloth was covered with leaves, the placemats were woven foliages, and I loved her galax roses.   Beautiful!

Stayin Alive

 

Most small businesses have had to make big changes due to the economy over the last year, so this year's theme for the Illinois State Florists' Association was "Stayin' Alive".    Frankie Peltiere, Festive Atmospheres, designer.

Amy Steiner was our designer of the year last year.  That was especially fun for my class because Amy is our fearless instructor. 

We all love Amy and she did such a good job, but her little girl Hanna stole the show!

And here's how  to make a casket spray the ICPF way. . .  Bill McKinley, instructor

Flower School

Today I took off my social worker hat and went to flower school.  Here's Phil Rulloda, the master of tropical designs.   He taught us how to braid and weave foliages into all sorts of designs.  Now if I can just remember a tenth of what he taught us.

And here's my instructor Amy, who was the Illinois State Florists' Association's 2009 Designer of the Year.  Patty, a sweet friend and classmate,  is admiring one of the designs that Amy  made for her show tomorrow night.  Stay tuned for more pictures from the convention!

More from Hitomi Show

Mama and I have been talking about aluminum wire. Here's a ring and a bracelet Hitomi showed us last weekend. They look pretty even without the fresh flowers.

More Bouquets

from the Hitomi show. Wish I had one of these for my desk today! They raffled off the pieces at the end of the show. It was running late, so I left early, gave my tickets to Sarah. I hope she won something.

Hitomi

Hitomi Gilliam did an incredible bridal show yesterday in St. Louis. And I got to be there! Every bouquet was luscious. . .

TableScape Competition

Don't know who won, but these were cool.

Monday Heart

This was from the sympathy show. Again, not the best picture quality, but another fab design. Something else to put on my list of things to do--build a frame!

Now That's a Hanging Basket

This was from the permanent botanical show. It's not a great shot, but I just loved it. I think it would look great out in the back yard. And it would be a bunny that's not eating my flowers! Wonder what G dog and Lilla would think?

Conference Pictures

These are from James Lutke's show last weekend. He's from Michigan. Last fall he taught us how to make a tree from a bunch of willow tips and a spool of wire. Love love love his work. I want to put some things like this in my garden. But I will have to make sure Mark doesn't use it for kindling.